Teaching Students with Learning Difficulties - Case Study Example

CASE1: 6 yr old girl IQ within normal limits. Lives at home with natural parents, She has cerebral palsy. Difficulty in communications Introduction Observe a little, normal kid with his/her parents. There appears to be a continuous flow of communication supported by eye contact, touch, oral communication, as well as signs. At times the participant is not even conscious that he/she is communicating. In a kid who has disability, a number of the communication paths are cut off. In a kid who has a limited motor functions, the likelihood to run and hug the parent might be restricted. If the kid has visual or speech impairment, the difficulty is further complicated. Thus it is rather natural that convulsive children display behaviors setbacks. They could show tantrums, use unkind words loudly, or become listless. (Mercer & Mercer, 1998) Communication disorders entail a broad range of difficulties in speech, hearing and language. For instance, speech and talking disorders comprise stuttering, dysfluency, aphasia, voice disorders, articulation difficulties, impediments in speech and talking, and phonological disorders. These disorders may be due to some environmental factors, high risk register problem being the most common. (Mercer & Mercer, 1998) Students who have communication disorder need to be treated equally as a teacher will treat other student, however in addition the teacher is supposed to do the following: Students having communication disorders ought to be persuaded to talk about their functional difficulties as well as their needs in confidential in the initial week of learning and to discuss methods for compensation. When it seems that a student requires assistance, enquire if you can assist. A teacher should accept a "No" graciously. Encourage the classmates to acknowledge the student having communicative difficulty. Be a fine speech model, this will show to every one that fine communication is pleasing. Establish and maintain in the classroom an atmosphere which is conducive to simplify a communication. Confer with a Speech Language specialist regarding the child with the communicative disorder in class and work with the Language specialist all through the class time. Keep the latest records on the student's achievements in treatment. Offer the student with speech disorder chance to speak in the class. Give her time to communicate, don't disrupt or attempt to fill up in gaps for her. Speak to her naturally. (Mercer & Mercer, 1998) Teacher Presentation When the teacher is in class teaching, the teacher ought to do the following the 6years old with cerebral palsy and difficulty in communications 1. Should make contact and maintain the contact with the student. 2. Allow her to tape the lessons. 3. Offer and interpreter (signed English) to her, if she requires another kind of communication to understand 4. Assist and Encourage in facilitation of involvement in discussions and activities. 5. Be patient. Field Experiences Physical education in vital in health fitness and general well being of students, Physical education develops strength, maintains body mobility at the same time it challenges the mind and the body. All young people irrespective of their disabilities need to benefit from the positive advantage of physical education. Starting from an early age students should be involved in physical education to which will help them have confidence in their abilities and they chose activities that much their interests and needs. For our student the teacher will have to; 1. Have a Discussion with the student to find out any particular requirements, difficulties or alternatives she foresees in the physical education learning setting. 2. Consider alternative exercises/ activities which the student can utilize with a lesser amount of difficulty, except has similar or same learning goals. 3. Make individual advance preparations with the curators throughout inactive visiting field tours. 4. Provide assistance in the field; however also offer positive support when that student demonstrates the capability of doing something without help. (Mercer & Mercer, 1998) Testing Testing is an important aspect of assessing al students to know how much their have understood what they learn at school. For this particular student test modification can be done for her by the teacher. This are modifications that are done on testing processes or test formats which offers students who have disabilities an equal chance to take part in test conditions and to reveal their abilities and knowledge. On top of that the teacher should; Permit additional time for that student having communication disorder to finish tests. Create tests which are suitable for the disorder the student has (written, oral or drawn) Check to make sure that the test instructions are wholly comprehended by the student and offer any extra help that might be required. (Mercer & Mercer, 1998) CASE2: 12 yr old girl IQ 45. Natural parents' oldest child, culture is which having a disabled child is socially unacceptable. Functions like a five yr old academically 2 or 3 yr old socially As ideas and belief concerning child development and the aspects that impact the child development vary greatly according to the cultural context, it is certain that children raised in different cultural context will vary from others. Studies show those cultural differences in terms of parents' beliefs, norms and behaviors as well as their understanding of parenting plays an important role on how the parents will provide care to the child. This will in turn affect the way the student will develop and learn. (Mendieta, 2004) General Guidelines for the parents to Building the Child's self-worth Parents who have the child with disability should understand the situation and try to assist the child through helping the child to build her self worth. This can be done through the following aspects. The parents should improve their own self-worth. Parents with cultural background which makes them have low self-esteem and feel the ashamed of the child will definitely pass the insecurities to the child unless they improve their own self-worth and change their cultural perceptions. (Mendieta, 2004) Build on the child's good aspects and abilities, instead of focusing on the disability of the child. Regular criticism will destroy the self-worth of the child. The child should be encouraged by her parents when she does something good and her parents need to help her always. (Mendieta, 2004) The parents also should listen to the child. Her worries and interests might appear insignificant to parents, in the similar manner that her parents might appear inconsequential to her, however through listening and being able to understand the child the will be able to grow socially and build her self esteem. The child will start to believe in herself and value herself which will enhance her factions. (Mendieta, 2004) Ask the option of the child on issues which affects them, the child will important and valued. A child is much more perceptive as opposed to the way the parents may be thinking. (Mendieta, 2004) The parent should assist the child plan and set-up her goals, even if there are very small. When the child achieves such goal, it will be a positive act, which will assist the child in building her self-worth and dealing with her disability. This will also improve the way she relates with other children. (Mendieta, 2004) Factors that improve child/parent relationship In order to enhance child parent relation, parents should undertake several things Improve communication between the child and the parent Parents getting more involved with their children activities Parents giving proper care to the child Stressing respect and between the child and the parent These factors will improve the relationship between the parent and child and create a good understanding between the parents and the child. Communication factor is the most important because it is through communication that a child can express his/her feelings about issues. Thus, parents need to encourage a lot of communication which should be free flowing and open. This will go along way to breaking done the cultural barriers which makes the parents not to value or feel ashamed of their child. General Strategies for teaching When the teacher is teaching such child order for a teacher to teach such a student the teacher should formulate learning lessons which will assist the child in building her self worth and reducing the discrimination arising from the cultural perceptions of the parents. Some of the general aspects that the teacher should do include The teacher should develop proper practice to encourage the teachers to have a greater understanding of cultural diversity and be able to sensitive in tackling issues of culture. Mendieta (2004) notes that, this type of aspect is good when each child is allowed to express share and amplify their personal differences within a classroom The Teacher should be able to adapt the particular requirements of the student in the class and also the teacher should be able to response appropriately to the specific needs of the student. The teacher should be able to identify and acknowledge the different cultural communications model of the student, the teacher can easily assist the student in his/her classroom and help them gain more confidence and become more comfortable. When the teacher formulated the curriculum, the curriculum should reflect the needs of the student. The curriculum should be based on the following characteristics; Should be based on good theoretical philosophies of how children develop and learn Should be formulated to attain lasting emotional, cognitive social and physical goals Has to include achievable and realistic expectations which permit students with diverse capabilities to work at various levels on various activities Build on what the students ready know Should Support individual, linguistic and cultural diversity, offering a balance between the majority culture and the minority culture Be flexible and should be able to adapt to individual student or groups. (Mendieta, 2004) CASE3: Junior high student IQ 140 only child highly verbal, active imagination and plays fantasy games. He is emotionally disturbed. Looks sullen appears not happy. Introduction One of the biggest challenges being faced by teachers in schools is how to find ways and methods of meeting the distinctive needs of different students in a classroom. Different students have different behavioral aspects, and each student has a different interests and methods of learning. The challenge in a classroom situation becomes bigger because the teacher is not only responsible for one student, but also for the entire classroom. Thus, it becomes unclear which method a teacher needs to use, at times the method can even become controversial. (McLaren, 2003) Behavioral disorders is at times referred to as conduct disorders, is amongst the most widespread types of psycho pathology amongst children as well as young adults. It is the mainly regularly cited as reason for victims' being referred to mental health treatment. The manifestation of behavioral disorders over the past years is increasing significantly in the classrooms especially the junior classes. As a consequence, the presence of disorder has led to the classroom and the school has whole to make some adjustments in the way the way they teacher such a student suffering from behavioral disorders. As a result their presence severely constrains the ability of the school systems to educate students effectively. The prevalence of behavioral problems among children and young adults is substantial. Many surveys indicate that behavioral disorders vary among young adults, ranging from 2 and 6% in K-12 students. This percentage translates into 1.3 to 3.8 million cases of behavioral disorders among the school and pre-college population. (McLaren, 2003) Some of the features of a student suffering from behavioral disorders include but are not limited to: Initiation of violent behavior as well as reacting violently towards other people An exhibit of maltreatment, intimidating, or threatening behavior Being physically insulting of others Deliberate ruin of other's belongings Showing little concern and understanding for the wishes and feelings of others. General Strategies for teaching In order for a teacher to teach such a student the teacher should bring the students attention to role models having similar disability who have gone ahead. Inquire from the previous teachers concerning the interactive techniques which were in the past effective for the student. Try and expose the student suffering from the behavioral disorders to other students who are showing normal behaviors. In addition the teacher should also determine if the student is on medication, and if such medication has any effect on the class performance of the student, and make the necessary adjustment of teaching. Some other general strategies to undertake include; 1. Utilize time-out sessions for cooling off disorderly behavior as well as a break supposing the student requires one. 2. In group work activities, recognize the inputs of the student having behavioral disorder. 3. Develop a contingency strategy with the student where by improper forms of answer are substituted by proper ones. 4. Treat the student having behavioral disorder just as a person who is deserves respect and kindness. 5. Provide encouragement. 6. Reward him more than you penalize, so as to build his self-esteem. Teacher Presentation After having the student for a period of about one week, and making observation about the student, the teacher should try and foresee the classroom circumstances, where emotional state of the student will be susceptible and the teacher should be prepared to use proper moderate strategies. This includes 1. The use of examples, to encourage the student to study science so that he can follow grown-up behaviors 2. Analysis the student's fundamental capability to adjust and communicate your own communications efforts respectively 3. Use an extensive range of instructional equipments that are able to be displayed so that the student can see and touch. 4. When a curiosity in a specific part has been stimulated, the teacher can speak to the student concerning it and demonstrate to him how to apply it. 5. Extraordinary efforts must be made aimed at encouraging and easily facilitating students having behavioral disorders to interrelate. (McLaren, 2003) Reading It is essential to target particular pro-social behaviors for proper instructions and evaluation to take place for example: Taking turns to work with partner by following directives. Reading as a group or reading with other students Increasing positive relations via ways of offering rewards upon reading appropriately Demonstrating proper reading Instructional strategies entailing self-reinforcement, self-control, self-monitoring, cognitive behavior, problem solving and meta-cognitive skills ought to be put in focus on teaching the student reading skills (McLaren, 2003) Testing Testing is an important aspect in learning of behavioral disorder student, it is important that when the teacher or the school is formulating tests the following should be undertaken by the teacher. Be responsive to the student's responses to the different aspects of evaluation. For the student, gather in his portfolio numerous examples of assignments (quizzes, projects, assignments,) which reveal knowledge of the unit or the subject of study. Create individual arrangements during a test for the student with behavioral disorder in relation to what his individual needs is, in a manner that the integrity of the tests is not compromise. Keep an abreast with the student development through unofficial assessment. Offer private room setting/alternative tests site (McLaren, 2003) Conclusion A child having a disability calls for specific different way from the parents and the teachers, to meet the specific needs of such a student. However, the first important step towards achieving that task is being conscious of the challenge. McDonnell, et al (1997) states that, a teacher as a responsibility to ensure that all students in a classroom understand his/her lessons in class. It is upon the teacher to make the necessary adaptations and adjustments to be able to meet the specific needs of the students having disabilities. Proper practices, responsive curriculum, a multicultural approach test modifications are some of the methods that a teacher can implement to ensure that he/she meets the specific requirements of students with disorders. The support of the parents and the whole community is also important in ensuring that the child gets proper care and positive encouragements from the parent. Parents have a strong responsibility in building the students talents and abilities and offering proper care. Reference: McDonnell, L. M, et al (1997). Educating one and all; Students with disabilities and standards-based reform - National Research Council, Washington, DC: National Academy Press McLaren, P. (2003): Life in schools: An introduction of critical pedagogy in the foundations of education. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Mercer, C. D & Mercer, A. R (1998): Teaching Students with Learning Problems. 5th Edition; Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc Mendieta, J. (2004): Connecting students and parents through literacy practices. Unpublished B.A. monograph, Read More